Plan group future uncertain

The Otsego County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously at its Sept. 13 meeting to pass a resolution to form an Inter-Municipal Committee for Cooperative Land Use Planning between the city of Gaylord, Otsego County and Livingston and Bagley townships.

However, the Gaylord City Council defeated the resolution Sept. 12 in a vote of 4-2. Mayor Gladys Solokis and Esther Nelson voted in favor of the resolution, while Gerald Campbell, Joe Wambold, Steve Johnson and Todd Sharrard voted against the resolution. Councilman Pat Mankowski didn't attend the council meeting.

Campbell spoke in strong opposition to the formation of the committee stating, "This is just one more layer of bureaucracy we don't need." Campbell, who expressed the majority opinion of the council, said existing committee structures in the city, township and county should be the vehicles for discussions about future land use issues. Council members voting against formation of the committee also expressed concern that the committee would be controlled by the townships, who would have two votes to the city's single vote.

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Gaylord City Manger Joe Duff said he supported the formation of the committee so there could be a forum to discuss future land use issues while fostering a more harmonious working relationship with the townships. Duff stressed that the committee's votes would be nonbinding and only advisory in nature.

When it was apparent the resolution to form the committee would fail, Duff said it wasn't a "life or death decision" and that he would follow council's lead.

Otsego County Land Use Director Richard Edmonds said Sept. 9, the main purpose of a committee is "to make sure everyone gets the same information at the same time, build trust, and knows each other's thoughts."

Edmonds' vision for better communications among the four units of government which affect the city of Gaylord proper, stems from the One County/One Vision study and final report indicating a broad public interest in managing development and containing urban sprawl. "As we develop the county master plan we want to make sure the language for the county ordinances is interchangeable with the city's, or with the townships'. We want them to all be exactly the same."

The resolution noted the purpose of the committee will be to "conduct studies and make recommendations on the questions and concerns brought to it by the member municipalities, including, but not limited to, controls over the extension of water and sewer services, the resolution of differences in planning and zoning districts and municipal borders, the cooperative development of compatible planning and zoning language, and cooperative planning to guide community development."

The Board of Commissioners indicated they hoped a good faith vote in favor of the committee might encourage the other groups to become involved. "This is a step in the right direction," noted Commissioner Ken Glasser. "We need to begin to look at these type of organizations which can look at the whole project from each units perspective."

"When I first got involved in local government, the first thing I learned is the separate units don't seem to work together well on things," stated Bagley Township Supervisor Bill Giles. "This committee is a good idea and will help all the groups work a lot better together than they have in the past."

The Bagley Township board tabled the resolution at its Sept. 12 meeting.

Duff said Friday, "I see this being about better growth management and containing sprawl by working together rather than independently."